PRESS RELEASE: LEAP endorses AZ marijuana legalization, Prop. 205

Criminal Justice Experts Support Campaign to Legalize Marijuana to Promote Public Safety

The Arizona Secretary of State has announced that an opportunity to legalize marijuana, Proposition 205, will be on the November ballot. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a nonprofit group of police, judges, prosecutors, and other criminal justice professionals advocating for marijuana legalization, endorses the measure as a means of refocusing the justice system on more serious matters and improving the relationship between communities and police. Prop. 205 will allow adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana, grow up to six plants in a secure area of the home, and allocate an estimated $55 million from marijuana sales taxes and licensing fees for K-12 education and full-day kindergarten programs.

“Marijuana arrests are damaging the lives of good people all over Arizona,” said Lt. Tony Ryan (Ret.), a LEAP speaker, 36-year veteran of the Denver Police Department, and Arizona resident. “Marijuana prohibition makes people distrust police for enforcing laws that take away education, job, and housing opportunities, as well as the rights of good parents. Prohibition is harmful and counterproductive. I'm voting Yes on Prop. 205.”

Prop. 205 is also endorsed by over a dozen conservative, liberal, and libertarian officials and organizations, including the Arizona Libertarian Party, the Arizona Democratic Party, The La Paz County Republican Committee.

Marijuana is legal for adult use in Colorado, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, and the District of Columbia. Twenty-five states and D.C. have legalized some form of medical marijuana access. Ballot measures to legalize marijuana for adult use are on the November ballot in Maine, Massachusetts, California, and Nevada.

LEAP is committed to ending decades of failed marijuana policies that have damaged the lives of countless Americans and their families, slowed the justice system at every level, and eroded trust between communities and police.